Vehicle coupling



Aug. 9, 1949.

A, P. BALZER VEHICLE COUPLING Filed Aug. 4, 1948 J if /5 Patented Aug. 9, 1949 Tommie invention to proviiiea'-criuplr 'which is 'ss pensive tel construct, has fewer' -p 'and is more foolproof 'any "coupler leretclia fore devised.

Fig. 1- isa perspective view of my novel coupler secured to a traction vehicle or the like, some parts being brolenfaiilfasf;`

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, some position of the parts being shown by dotted lines; and

Fig. 3 is a View corresponding to Fig. 2, but illustrating a diierent position of some of the parts.

Referring with greater particularity to the drawings, the numeral I indicates a base plate adapted to be secured, by means of nut-equipped bolts or the like 2, to any portion of the framework 3 of a traction vehicle. A head 4, having forwardly-converging side walls 5 and an upper wall 6, is formed integrally with and projects upwardly from the base plate I. The base plate I, the side walls 5, and the top upper wall 6 dene a cavity 1 having a relatively wide mouth 8 at its rear end and a relatively-restricted opening in the nature of a vertically-extended slot 9 at its forward end. A rectangular funnel-V shaped guide element identified in its entirety by the numeral I projects rearwardly from the mouth 8 and forms an extension thereof.

An inverted L-shaped bracket II is secured, preferably by Welding or the like, to the upper lWall 6 of the head 4 and has an upper portion I2 which overlies the wall 6 in spaced relation thereto. The wall 6 and the base plate I are provided with aligned apertures I3, I4, and I respectively which slidably axially receive a :coupling pin I6 which preferably, and as shown, is provided at its upper end with an eye or ring I'I to facilitate realms. w1. 28o-ears) A latch flevenfifdentiireiifin v.itsenti'rletyrbly the' umelfal 5&9@ fis provided wtf'itsiuppei1eidWith/a: plate-like arm 20 which is provided withairfaperev ture 2I which loosely encompasses1 the-'couplihg pitt e-I 6,: whereby-to permit limited-rocking. rfioveof `Isai'dzfl'atch= le'verr |192 fAs' shown, fai lcoil' compres sion:` As'prirgf *2stisiinterposed between the' collar' fli8f and: the' undersurtaeepf the :plate-'like' aiim. 2li/'of the :flatcit lever7 -'If9^.. -vviiilbe"seen,y 'th'eeoiil spring ZZfiyieldin'gly biases the coupling, pin vI-I toward` the'extended?y position ofV Fig. f3: amirnsimultareouslyf 'biases theziplate 2th toward' parallelrsmz `with `trie upper portionv 12 "of 'the bracket "'Ift.- t

Depending from the projected end 23 of the plate 20 is a narrow arm 24, the free end 25 of which is received within the restricted opening -or slot 9 at the front end of the head 4. Furthermore, the arm 24 is of suflicient depth to prevent accidental removal of the end 25 from tne slot 9 upon rocking movements of the latch lever I9 with respect to the pin I6. The depending portion 24 of the latch lever I9 is notched away below the plate 20 to provide a shoulder 26 on the side edge of the arm 24 adjacent the coupling pin I6. The depending member 24 is also provided along its same edge fwith a carin portion or srurface 21 which extends between the free end 25 and the shoulder 26.

The hitch above described is best adapted to be coupled to a draw bar or tongue 28 of a trailer or implement to be drawn, not shown. Tongue 28 is rounded at its front end and is provided with an aperture 29 which is adapted to receive the coupling pin I6. When it is desired to couple the tongue 28 to my novel structure, the coupling pin I6 is rst manually elevated or retracted to the position of Figs. 1 and 2. It will be noted that in this operation the collar I8, during its upward movement. engages the cam surface 21 and moves the lever arm 24 suiiicient to permit the collar I8 to pass upwardly thereby into a position vabove the shoulder 26. The compression of the spring 22 causes the arm 24 to be rockably moved into the full line position of Fig. 2 with the shoulder 26 underlying a portion of the collar I8. The pin I6 rmay then be released, thereby permitting the collar I8 to come to rest upon the shoulder 26, as shown by full lines in Fig. 2, As the perforate tongue 28 is guided into the head 4 through the funnel-shaped element III` and mouth 8, it will be guided by the converging side walls to the dotted line yposition of Fig. 2, at 'which position the aperture 29 is axially aligned with respect to the coupling pin I6, and the latch lever I9 Will be rocked to the dotted line position therein. In said dotted line position, it will be' observed that the collai` I8 will be unseated from the shoulder 28 and the coil spring 22 will extend the coupling pin I6 to the position of Fig.V 3 through the opening 29 in the tongue 28 and the opening I5 in the base plate I. I

It should be obvious that to release the tongue 28, it is but necessary to manually elevate or retract the coupling pin I6. By the arrangement shown, it will be seen that an extremely simple and eicient hitch utilizing but a single spring for both advancing the coupling pin to a coupling position and resetting the latch lever I9 for automatic coupling action is provided.

My invention has been thoroughly tested and found to be entirely adequate for the accomplishment of the above objects, and while I have shown and described a single embodiment thereof, it will be understood that the same is capable of modification without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

What I claim is:

l. In a draw bar hitch adapted to be connected to a traction vehicle, a hollow coupling head having a relatively wide mouth at one end for reception of the apertured end of a draw bar and having a relatively-restricted opening at its opposite end, said head dening spaced internal guide surfaces that converge from said mouth toward said restricted opening and which serve to center and stop the apertured end of a draw bar inserted into said head through said mouth,

a coupling pin axially slidably mounted in aligned openings in opposite walls of said head for extending and retracting movements with respect to the cavity of said head, a guide bearing associated with the head and encompassing the coupling pin in spaced relation to the head, an abutment on said coupling pin intermediate said head and said guide bearing, a latch lever, said latch lever having one end loosely encompassing the coupling pin -intermediate said guide bearing and said abutment whereby to permit limited rocking movements of said lever with respect to said coupling pin, the opposite free end of said lever being adapted to be projected into the cavity of said head through said restricted opening upon rocking movements of the lever, a shoul- ,der on said latch lever intermediate its ends and nengageable WithV the abutment on said coupling pin to releasably retain said coupling pin in restricted inoperative position, and a coil compression spring surrounding said coupling pin intermediate said abutment and said lever, said spring biasing said coupling pin toward operative engagement with said draw bar Within said cavity and biasing the free end of said latch lever in the direction of the coupling pin.

2. The structure defined in claim l in which said abutment is in the nature of an annular collar.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said latch lever is also provided With a cam surface intermediate its free end and the shoulder thereof, said cam surfacebeing engageable by said abutment whereby to permit automatic positioning of the abutment on said shoulder upon retracting movements of said coupling pin.

4. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the restricted opening is in the nature 4of a slot, and in which the free end of said lever has sufficientdepth to prevent its accidental removal from the slot under rocking movements thereof.

ABRAM P. BALZER.

No references cited. 

